The calm but loud water was full of life and excitement as kids went in and out throughout the day. Fire circles of poems about going back to the city were read, and tears were shed about having to return home. The chapel was where songs were shouted out, and arms were wrapped around each other in the warmest embrace.
Nine years.
Nine years of weeks and weekends throughout the past of going to my happy place.
Now, it’s my last one. Seven more days at the place I anticipated going to every summer. Seven more days with my favorite staff members whom I’ve come to love.
This place is more than a summer camp to me: it’s a second home.
I know I’ll be back; I can never leave it forever. But, I’ll no longer be attending the camp in the summers anymore. Summers will change, and the consistency of the past will be fading.
There are so many beautiful memories from my home away from home: the songs, the hugs, the laughs, all of it.
Themes that the camp follows each year—such as Live Fully, Go and Do, and Imperfectly Perfect—have all become my life mantras that I strive to live by.
I’ve gone with my dad for every single one of the years in the spring for a weekend; that was the first time I had ever gone to camp. I’ve been going every year since I was nine, and I can’t remember a spring without Dad and Me camp.
Then, in the summer, I would drive an hour up there and stay for the week. My week there was always a highlight of my summer, year after year.
Countless laughs were shared among the people around the camp each of the days I was there.
I remember late-night stargazing on the dew-ridden grass and stars spinning until we were so dizzy that we couldn’t see straight anymore.
I will never forget screaming at the top of my lungs for PJ to sing, yelling the lyrics to songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Wagon Wheel.” I’ve lost my voice from that night time and time again.
I took in the full inhale of air because of how fresh the crisp, natural air felt in my lungs. I loved sitting on the deck during a fun swim and just taking it all in. Sometimes, I’d strum my ukulele and teach others how to play it as well.
I’ve met some of the closest people in my life there, people that I could not imagine my life without. Ones whom I talk to frequently and cherish.
This place means so much to me. It has a permanent place in my heart.
Though I won’t be there as a camper after this summer, I know that I can never truly leave the place that I have loved for so long.
I love you, Camp Henry, forever and a day.
